Sea urchin sting

Quick Overview

• What to do with a sea urchin sting? Remove sting completely, disinfect wound, watch for signs of inflammation (swelling, overheating etc.); If the spines are poisonous, store the body part above the level of the heart and call the emergency physician
• Sea Urchin Sting risks: Infections, sepsis, chronic inflammation, joint stiffening, possibly symptoms of intoxication (paralysis symptoms, difficulty breathing up to death)
• When to the doctor? For very deep-seated spines, suspected poisoning, severe pain, swelling and discomfort of the affected person

Attention!

• Sea urchin spines must always be completely removed, otherwise there are threats of infection!
• Seals of sea urchin spines light easily even after removing the spines. Therefore, disinfect them and observe the healing process.
• If the affected person shows symptoms of poisoning (eg paralysis symptoms), you should call the emergency doctor immediately!

Sea Urchin Sting: What to do?

Sea urchins (Echinoidea) are invertebrates found in all oceans. They are particularly widespread on the coasts of Europe, Asia, Central America and Australia as well as on the coasts of Atlantic and Pacific islands.

The animals stay on the seabed, especially in small rocky caves and niches. A sea urchin sting can be attracted mainly to rocky coasts. The first aid in such a case looks like this:

1. Remove the sting: If you or someone else stepped on a sea urchin, you should first and foremost carefully and completely remove spines that are stuck in the skin. However, it is often not so easy to remove sea urchin sting. For thicker spines, try tweeting with a pair of tweezers or cannulas. Alternatively, you can soak them with vegetable oil, for example, and remove after 24 hours with tweezers.

It may also help to soak the wound in vinegar before removing the spines or to apply a vinegar soaked compress. The vinegar dissolves most sea urchin spines that have not penetrated deeply.

Sometimes it is also recommended to tie a half papaya or mango with the cut surface to the wound for a few hours. The fruits contain enzymes that soften the skin. The spines are then easier to pull out.

The spines are fragile, it remains easily a part stuck in the skin. Never try to cut out the barbed fragments or deeply penetrated spines yourself! That’s a doctor’s job.

2. Hot water: In case of severe pain, it can help to immerse the injured body part in hot water.

3. DisinfectionIf the sea urchin spines are removed, disinfect the wound thoroughly (eg with iodine ointment). It ignites easily.

4. High camp with poison spines: Some sea urchin species have poisonous spines. If you have a suspicion, store the affected part of the body lower than the heart. So the poison spreads more slowly in the body.

5. Watch: If the lot around the wound swells up, gets hot, hurts a lot and / or circulatory problems occur, you or the patient should immediately go to the doctor or call the ambulance!

Sea Urchin Sting: Risks

If you step on a sea urchin, it can be very painful. Nevertheless, sea urchin spines often cause only a harmless injury to the human skin with minor bleeding. It is important to completely remove the spines. If you do not do this, you have the following risks, for example:

• infections: You can not go just from spiky remains in the skin. Even if you have completely removed the spines, the wound can ignite. An indication of this is fever. Left untreated, infection can rarely trigger sepsis.
• granuloma: Remains of sea urchin spines in the skin can trigger a chronic inflammatory response. In response to this, a nodular tissue regeneration can develop around the foreign body, a so-called granuloma.
• joint stiffness: If a sea urchin sting has penetrated into an articular capsule, an inflammatory reaction also results. As a late consequence, the joint can become stiff.
• poisoningPoisonous sea urchins can cause various symptoms in humans. Thus, the puncture site may turn red and swell. More serious symptoms include, for example, paralysis of motor nerves, numbness and difficulty breathing – in the worst case with death.

Special case poisonous sea urchin spines

Very few of the over 900 species of sea urchins are poisonous and can be dangerous to humans. If you come into contact with the lime scale of a poisonous sea urchin (for example, by touching or stepping on it), the spines sitting on it drill lightly and deeply into the human skin and break off quickly. With their barbs they adhere well in the tissue.

Some sea urchin species are found Poison inside the spines, In other species sits one Poison gland in a blister at the end of the spines, In both cases, a sea urchin sting can cause symptoms of poisoning as well as mechanical skin injuries.

However, such intoxications can arise in other ways as well: some sea urchins have so-called “stinging” between the spines pedicellariae, These are small, pincer-like gripping tools that sometimes contain a poison apparatus. Fine sensor hairs sit on their surface. When touched, the tongs grab, perhaps “catching” the human skin and draining its poison. Even when trying to remove a sea urchin adhering to the skin, the pedicellaria tear off. They stick to the horny layer of the skin, where they release their poison.

Sea Urchin Sting: When to the doctor?

Most sea urchin bites are harmless. As a rule, it is sufficient to completely remove the sting and to disinfect the wound. However, you should consult a doctor in the following cases:

• if sea urchin sting has penetrated deep into the skin (they may need to be surgically removed)
• in severe pain, swelling, overheating and / or redness of the sting site
• in case of feeling unwell, fever
• with paralysis symptoms, insensitivity, breathing problems (call emergency doctor!)
• in case of uncertainty, whether the sea urchin was poisonous, on which one stepped

Sea urchin sting: examinations at the doctor

The doctor will first ask the patient or any escorts for important information (anamnesis). Possible questions include:

• When and where did the sea urchin sting happen?
• What complaints do you or the patient have?
• What first aid measures have been taken?

Subsequently, the doctor will examine the sea urchin injuries. Deep-seated spines or spiky parts that can not be seen with the naked eye or magnifying glass can be localized by means of an X-ray examination.

Sea Urchin Sting: Treatment by the doctor

The treatment for a sea urchin sting is mainly to remove as quickly as possible all spines and spiky remains and any pedicellaria from the skin. Sometimes the doctor has to surgically remove the sea urchin spines, especially if they have drilled deeper into the skin. Thereafter, the wound is thoroughly disinfected.

In addition, the doctor can treat the symptoms as needed. For example, he may prescribe analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs to the patient.

If the patient is not vaccinated against tetanus or if his or her vaccination status is unknown, the doctor will prescribe a dose (tetanus syringe) as a precautionary measure.

Prevent sea urchin sting

A sea urchin sting is usually found in bathers who go for a walk on the beach in shallow water or reach into the water, for example, to collect shells.

The best prevention tips are therefore: Do not reach carelessly into the water, especially in bad weather. In addition, it is advisable to wear swimming shoes against sea urchins, namely models with a solid sole.

Another tip to one Sea urchin sting Avoid: Do not go swimming in the sea at night – sea urchins may like the dark and then crawl out of their hiding places.